


An Attempted Surprise

by haledamage



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Birthday Party!, F/M, pathetic assassination attempts, the watcher keeps collecting pets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-24
Updated: 2017-09-24
Packaged: 2019-01-04 16:37:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12172707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haledamage/pseuds/haledamage
Summary: Aloth and Kai's sister Bella try to throw her a surprise party





	An Attempted Surprise

**Author's Note:**

> for pillars prompt 0006
> 
> unbetaed and barely edited because I was running late
> 
> for RannaDylin, happy birthday darling <3

As the New Year passed and Caed Nua became buried under layer after layer of snow, Bella couldn't help but notice a few things. First, that there was nothing worse in all the world than snow except for people that enjoy snow. Second, that New Year in the Dyrwood involved a lot more hot brandy and mistletoe and a lot less passive-aggressive judgments than it did back home. And third, that Kai, her dear little sister who loved an excuse to throw a good party, was making absolutely no plans for her own birthday.

Now, Bella wasn't entirely sure Kai _deserved_ a birthday, since she was one of the aforementioned snow-lovers, but… well, Kiki had always been her favorite and it was her first birthday since they reunited. Kai was going to have a birthday party, dammit.

The problem was, Bella was terrible at parties. Moire still teased her about their engagement party, disaster that it was. She didn't even want to think about it. She definitely wouldn't get any help there.

She thought about asking Edér for assistance. The ex-soldier was close to Kai and amiable in a straightforward kind of way. He also couldn't keep a secret if his life depended on it. If Bella so much as mentioned the word 'party' to him, Kai would know immediately.

The Devil of Caroc was much better at sneaking about, but she scared the shit out of Bella. She knew that Kai was friends with Devil and trusted her completely, but Bella would rather just stay out of her way.

She wished Kana was still at Caed Nua. He must be great at surprise parties, or at least at obfuscating said surprise. He could talk his way around a topic so deftly you'd forget what you asked him in the first place. He was back in Rauatai, though, doing whatever loud and cheerful thing he did there. Bella should write him a letter. She knew he'd want to be at Kai's party if he could.

In the end, Bella decided to go to Kai's boyfriend for help. She still wasn't quite sure what to make of Aloth; he was a quiet, secretive, tight-lipped bastard sometimes, while others he could be clever and witty and even playful. She hadn't been able to learn shit about him since she'd arrived at Caed Nua, had exhausted every avenue and informant she had back in Aedyr and found nothing. A product of him being a former Leaden Key agent, if she had to guess. Still, Kai trusted him and he clearly cared a lot about her. And if anyone could help Bella keep this secret, it was him.

He fidgeted with his sleeve in the silence after Bella was done speaking. "Kai and I have very few secrets between us," he said eventually. "I can't help but believe that she has a reason for not mentioning her birthday. Perhaps it's as simple as my never having asked about it."

"Maybe," Bella shrugged. "I think she hasn't celebrated a birthday since she stormed out of her fiftieth and I can't say I blame her for it. But we can do _better_ than Mother did. Let Kiki have some fucking _fun_ and relax for once in her damn life."

"In that," Aloth said snidely, "you and I are in complete agreement."

So they got to work. Aloth wrote letters to Kai's former traveling companions and a few friends she'd made in her travels and then worked on keeping Kai subtly but constantly too busy to notice as Bella ordered food and flowers and other necessities for a small feast.

A week before the party, the first guests arrived, and then Kai was too busy catching up with old friends to worry about what her sister was up to.

Bella loved when everything went according to plan.

\-------

Bella and Aloth were up to something. Kai wasn't stupid; she noticed the increase in food budget for this month, the way Aloth kept finding one urgent matter or another that needed her attention, the way Bella would cover whatever she was writing or conversations would stop as soon as Kai entered a room.

Considering what time of year it was, it didn't take much to figure out what they were doing.

"Ye know what they're plannin', dontcha." Moire said one day as they walked the grounds together.

"I do," Kai replied, "but I think it's important to Bella. I don't mind pretending to be surprised."

Moire laughed. "Yer too nice to them, Kiki."

A week before her birthday, Hiravias and Kana both arrived within an hour of each other. "I was just passing by," Ravi said. Kana said "what a coincidence!" Kai wondered if any of them really expected her to believe them.

Over the next few days, more familiar faces arrived--Pallegina, Maneha, Aufra and her baby and at least a dozen familiar faces from Defiance Bay and Stalwart and Dyrford. Kai grew more and more amused at their attempts to explain their presence in Caed Nua all at the same time, but it was so good to see so many friends again.

Two days before her birthday, two unfamiliar folk arrived claiming they were here for the party. Kai saw Aloth tense out of the corner of her eye, but she just smiled cordially and said "I'm afraid I've not heard of any party. Who might you gentlemen be?"

"No one important," the taller one said. He kept touching his sleeve, as if checking it was still there. Curious.

"Oh come now, you must have names. Don't be shy," Kai said with a casual wave of her hand. She saw a glint of bronze from behind a pillar and bit back a smile.

"State your name and purpose," Aloth said coldly and Kai did smile then. He was clearly thinking the same as she was.

Once it was clear their ruse had failed the strangers sprang into motion, but too late. The taller one reached up his sleeve for a knife but caught a lightning bolt in the chest; the other pulled a pistol but never got the chance to fire it before one of Devil's daggers hit him in the back of the skull and he slumped to the floor.

Devil stood over the bodies, giving them a quick search for identification and making sure they were dead. She offered the knife to Kai without a word, and she wished she was surprised to find a key engraved into the blade.

"Assassins. How charming," Kai sneered. "Just want I wanted."

"What else do you get the girl who has everything?" Devil said dryly. "I can put a bow on 'em if you like."

Kai let herself grin for a second before recomposing herself. "Let's get these cleaned up before my sister finds out, shall we?"

The morning of Tarivèrno 4, Kai awoke to a tapping at her bedroom window. She slipped quietly out of bed and opened the window. A gust of freezing air and a bird as white as fresh snow slipped through the gap and she quickly re-latched it.

The bird studied Kai. Kai studied the bird. It seemed unfazed by her proximity, which implied a familiarity with kith, so she shrugged and approached it.

"Hey there, little bird," she cooed to what appeared to be a bird of prey as long as her arm. Kai reached a hand out and it nuzzled its soft feathered head into her palm. "Such a beautiful bird, yes you are. What brings you to my home, little bird?"

"Who are you talking to?" Aloth's voice rose from somewhere under their pile of blankets.

"A new friend came in through the window."

"Hoo," said the bird.

"I think it's a messenger bird, like pigeons or ravens can be trained to do. I've never seen a bird like this before." She scratched at its head again and added, "You're just magnificent, aren't you, darling. King of birds."

"Hoo," said the bird happily.

Sure enough, it had a little bundle wrapped around one leg. Kai pulled it free to find two pieces of paper and a small pendant.

She held the pendant up to the light. It was a piece of adra ban the length of her thumb, exquisitely carved into the shape of a white fox. Its eyes were painted a bright, cheerful blue. Kai smiled and ran her fingers across the lines of its fur, then turned her attention to the papers.

One was a child's drawing, done in bold, simple lines in bright paints. In it, a family of dwarves and two white foxes smiled and waved at Kai. The figure that must be Sagani held a bow and arrow and had a thick line of black paint across her eyes, and she looked happy.

The final piece of paper was a short letter:

_Hope this arrives in time. Wish I could be there in person, but I don't think I'll be traveling again anytime soon. I hope you're well. Happy birthday, Kai. Love, Sagani. PS if the bird wants to stay, he's yours. He keeps biting Itumaak and I'm tired of dealing with it. His name is Mauja._

"Mauja?" Kai said.

"Hoo," said Mauja.

"Aloth?" When the blankets didn't answer, Kai returned to the bed and pulled back layers until she found the top of his head. "Good morning, darling. I need to go fetch Edér. You might want to put some clothes on."

"So I didn't imagine the bird, then," he grumbled.

"Nope! Sagani sent me a birthday gift and it came with a new friend!" Kai kissed his hair and slipped out of the bed again to find something to wear for the day. Something that would look presentable at a party but didn't look like she _expected_ a party.

"Is it your birthday? You never told me that." Aloth sat up and wrapped the blankets around himself.

"I was going to, but I planned to wait until today so no one could make a big deal about it. I hated the parties my mother threw, so I stopped celebrating after I left. Last year, I think we were at Ionni Brathr, so I had bigger things to worry about. Besides," Kai said as she sat back down on the bed to pull her boots on, "59 isn't even an interesting age. Nothing worth sneaking around and trying to throw me a surprise party. In my keep. That I'm psychically linked to."

"Ah," Aloth blushed and Kai grinned, "I didn't consider that angle."

"It's sweet. Really. Now get up! I need Edér to help me figure out what to feed Mauja."

The great hall was covered in garlands of snowdrops and camellias, and filled with smiling and familiar faces. They ate, they danced, they drank fine Vailian wines and rum from the Deadfire Archipelago that Pallegina and Maneha brought, and Kana brought pies and cookies and tiny little cakes made of rich Rauatan chocolate.

The Devil of Caroc unceremoniously gave Kai a set of unadorned but well-made daggers, two for her belt and one to hide in her boot. She acted like she didn't care what Kai thought of them, but her pleasure was obvious when Kai gave her a hug and asked if she'd teach her how to use them properly.

Hiravias gave Kai a potted plant, a vine with tiny orange flowers that she'd never seen before. He said he'd found it in the Living Lands. Stubborn as a weed, he said it was, and the dried flowers made an excellent tea that helped induce sleep. He'd named them akaia flowers.

Edér gave Kai a new friend, a tiny lavender garden snake. She was one of a clutch he'd been raising in his room, a mother and four newly hatched eggs he'd found just before the snows hit. The snake blinked golden eyes at Kai curiously, then wrapped happily around her wrist like a piece of living jewelry. Edér promised to help find her a name.

Bella and Moire presented her with an envelope bearing two tickets to a spa in Defiance Bay. They said Kai needed to take some time off and that she and Aloth should spend some time together. They could run things at Caed Nua for a few days without her.

Aloth gave her a book. It was very old, but in good condition, with a faded red linen cover and rough, hand-cut pages. It was filled with rubbings and sketches of Engwithan engravings, translated poorly into Eld Aedyran and then to modern Aedyran.

Kai ran her fingers over the blank cover. "This must be worth a fortune. Where did you get this?"

He shrugged casually. "I stole it. I finally hunted down the acolyte we met under the temple in Defiance Bay. She had a very impressive library. Pity she won't have any use for it anymore."

Kai was at a loss. "You… you broke into the home of a Leaden Key agent and stole a book for my birthday."

Aloth smirked and said, "I stole several books, actually, but I'm saving the rest for other occasions. Birthdays, New Year, anniversaries…"

All in all, it was a perfect day. Kai couldn't even find it in herself to be bitter that she'd have to tell Bella she had a good idea. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day, after all.

\-------

Bella sat next to her sister on the front steps of the keep, watching the sunset.

"Thank you, Bella," said Kai, eyes on the horizon. "This was… amazing."

"It was, wasn't it." Bella grinned and threw an arm around Kai. "How long ago did you figure it out."

"A month and a half. I love you, Sister, but you are the least subtle person I've ever known." Kai leaned her head on Bella's shoulder. "Of course you know this means war. There is no way I'm letting you throw a better party than me."

Their laughter carried across the yard. "I wouldn't have it any other way."


End file.
